Vedanta Aluminium strengthens sustainability efforts, expands India’s largest fleet of electric forklifts
11th July 2024
New Delhi, July 11, 2024: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, has expanded its fleet of electric lithium-ion forklifts to 66 units, strengthening its position as the largest deployer of electric lithium-ion forklifts in India. The company has successfully deployed an additional 22 electric forklifts at its smelter operations in Jharsuguda, Odisha, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable operations. This expansion bolsters the decarbonisation journey of Vedanta Aluminium.
Speaking about this initiative, John Slaven, CEO, Vedanta Aluminium, said, “At Vedanta Aluminium, sustainability is a business imperative. We continuously adopt innovative practices to enhance our operational excellence. The deployment of 66 electric lithium-ion forklifts marks a milestone in accelerating our transition to a Net Zero future.”
Deployed across Vedanta Aluminium’s units in Jharsuguda and Lanjigarh in Odisha, as well as its BALCO smelter in Chhattisgarh, these forklifts feature faster and safer battery charging capabilities. This revolutionizes operational efficiency, while significantly contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions. The introduction of electric lithium-ion forklifts helps mitigate the company’s carbon footprint significantly, through:
- Potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 2,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually.
- Substantial reduction in diesel consumption, with estimated savings of over 8.4 lakh litres per year.
The company has committed to decarbonizing 100% of its light motor vehicle (LMV) fleet by 2030. This ongoing effort stands as a testimony to Vedanta Aluminium’s constant endeavour to evaluate and deploy emerging technologies towards decarbonising its operations. Vedanta is among India’s pioneering companies to adopt sustainable operational practices, particularly in material handling.
The expansion of electric forklift fleet is yet another step Vedanta Aluminium’s journey to achieve Net Zero by 2050. To fulfil this commitment, the company is adopting a two-fold strategy of reducing its carbon footprint by increasing operational excellence and increasing renewables in its energy mix, while also offsetting its carbon footprint through extensive afforestation efforts. Through its operations, the company is enabling wider global access to responsibly-produced, high-quality aluminium to ensure a greener future for the planet.
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.37 million tonnes in FY24. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 1st in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 world rankings for the aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
About Vedanta Limited:
Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa and Namibia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, the Vedanta group has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on social impact programmes with a thrust on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare, and grass-root level sports. Vedanta and the group companies have been featured in Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and was conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020, Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance 2022 and certified as a Great Place to Work 2022. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.
For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com
About Vedanta Aluminium Business:
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.37 million tonnes in FY24. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 1st in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 world rankings for the aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
For more information, please log on to www.vedantaaluminium.com
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This press release contains “forward-looking statements” – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “should” or “will.” Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional, and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.
